In the circular common room, the first-years had already dispersed, and Eda finally let out a breath of relief. Before becoming a prefect, she hadn't even been a group leader or class representative.
"Were my jokes really that awkward?" Eda asked, tilting her head. "Why did they laugh so reluctantly just now?"
"Do you want the honest answer?" Seeing Eda nod, Clark continued, "They really weren't that funny. But you did well today—at least the first-years haven't seen through your true nature yet."
Having been classmates with Clark Gerald for four years already, and with their cooperation throughout the day, Eda had grown quite familiar with this partner of hers.
Clark was a very responsible person, excellent in both character and academics, yet not boring—overall, a very good partner.
That remark was only a small joke on Clark's part, and Eda wasn't someone who couldn't take a joke. Naturally, she wouldn't get angry over a single phrase like "true nature," but she decided to tease this model student a bit.
Eda said in a threatening tone, "Clark, I'll give you one chance to rephrase that."
Unexpectedly, Clark didn't fall for it at all. Not only did he show no sign of panic, his expression actually relaxed even more.
Clark said calmly, "If you'd said that with a smile, I'd already be long gone by now. Besides, the expression on your face right now doesn't look like you're angry at all."
Eda felt a bit puzzled, and the look she gave Clark carried a hint of scrutiny.
"Don't look at me like that. Even though we've spoken less in the past four years than we did today, I still understand you a bit," Clark explained. "Alright, Fred and George are coming over—you'd better think about how to deal with the two of them."
Clark smiled and greeted the twins, then headed back to the boys' dormitory by himself. The twins stood beside Eda, and seeing her absent-minded look, the two brothers didn't even need to exchange a glance to understand each other.
"Hey—snap out of it!" the twins shouted together right by Eda's ears.
Eda wasn't startled by the twins' sudden attack, but having someone shout in her ear was still rather unpleasant. She rubbed her ears and complained, "Are the two of you sick of living or something…?"
"Curious about Clark Gerald?" Fred raised an eyebrow.
George added, "Can't figure out why he acts like he knows you so well."
The twins' assessment wasn't entirely accurate, but it wasn't wrong either. Eda just found it strange—someone she clearly wasn't familiar with seemed to know her quite well.
"You may not be familiar with Clark, but that doesn't mean he isn't familiar with you!" Fred said in a sarcastic tone. "Do you think everyone's like you—being classmates for four years and still not able to match names to faces in your own class!"
There was nothing she could say, no way to refute it, because Fred was stating a fact. Among her classmates in the same year, Eda only had a bit of an impression of Cody Avery and Kenneth Toller.
"Clark and you aren't just classmates, you know—so of course he's more familiar with you," George said, half-revealing, half-concealing.
Eda couldn't understand what kind of special relationship Clark could possibly have with her. There were only three wizarding families in the village of Ottery St Catchpole—the Weasleys, the Diggorys, and the Lovegoods. There were no Geralds. She also didn't recall having such a relative, and her grandmother had never mentioned anything of the sort.
After thinking it over for a while, Eda finally realized what it was about. She said uncertainly, "No way… it can't really be what I'm thinking, can it…?"
Fred and George wore expressions of indulgent approval, and the two brothers spoke in unison, "That's right—it's exactly what you're thinking. You're really too cold-hearted, honestly."
"But Clark isn't feeling cold-hearted right now," Fred struck first.
"Because he already has a girlfriend. You don't have even the slightest chance," George followed up with a finishing blow.
"So Percy has a girlfriend, and Clark has a girlfriend—does that mean Hogwarts girls all like top students?" Seeing the essence through the phenomenon, Eda, who had been single for two lifetimes, felt she had uncovered the truth.
"You're a girl yourself, and you're asking us?" Fred and George shot back. "And why aren't you mentioning Cedric? He doesn't have a girlfriend!"
Eda looked at the twins as if they were idiots and said righteously, "Cedric is different. It's just that he hasn't taken a liking to that flock of fluttering girls around him. Besides, Cedric already has someone he likes, and he's already planning to pursue her."
"Who?" Fred and George asked. "Someone from Hufflepuff, or another house?"
The gossiping spirit in the twins' hearts burned fiercely, but Eda had no intention of satisfying their curiosity—serving them right for acting crazy today. She put on an air of mystery and said, "Want to know? Go ask him yourself tomorrow!"
With that, Eda clasped her hands behind her back and walked straight toward the girls' dormitory, leaving the twins, their eyes full of gossip, behind. What do you call that? That's called killing and not burying.
...
The next morning, yawns echoed throughout the Great Hall. After two months of relaxing at home, and with the first day of official classes beginning, many people's biological clocks hadn't adjusted yet.
Students around the four long tables sat slumped and crooked.
Fred and George were sprawled to Eda's left and right, both of them looking utterly listless.
The night before, after Eda returned to the dormitory, the two brothers had been endlessly speculating about Cedric's crush, but no matter how much they thought about it, nothing seemed to fit. As a result, they ended up in this sorry state.
Seeing the twins in such a pitiful condition, and having successfully taken her revenge, Eda stopped dragging it out and satisfied their curiosity.
"The Ravenclaw Chinese girl!" Fred exclaimed in shock, his body springing upright from the table. Cho Chang's name was far too distinctive at Hogwarts—once Eda said it, he immediately thought of her.
"So Cedric's planning on robbing the cradle!" George sighed.
Although Cedric was in the same year as the twins, he was the same age as Eda—both born in 1977. Because both Eda and Cedric were born after September, they entered school together with the twins, that is, when they were nominally twelve years old.
Cho Chang was now in fourth year, one year younger than the twins and two years younger than Cedric. Calling it "robbing the cradle" was a bit of an exaggeration, but it had to be said—Cedric's taste was indeed quite refined.
Just as the twins were sighing over the decline of human decency, a commotion arose from the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy and his cronies struck affected poses and pretended to suddenly faint, drawing a burst of laughter from the crowd.
Draco Malfoy was using this to mock Harry's weakness, because during the Dementors' inspection of the train yesterday, Harry had fainted.
Harry sat down beside George with an irritated expression, viciously biting into a pasty. He wasn't so much angry at Malfoy's ridicule as he was dissatisfied with himself.
"That little glutton," George said calmly. "Last night when the Dementors came onto the train, he wasn't nearly so high and mighty. He dove straight into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"
"Nearly wet his pants," Fred said, casting Malfoy a contemptuous glance.
"I wasn't too happy either," George went on. "Those Dementors really are terrifying…" As he spoke, the twins both gave an exaggerated shudder, trying to encourage Harry in their own way.
The concern from the two "brothers-in-law" did make Harry feel warmer inside, but he was still a bit downcast. Harry said softly, "But you didn't pass out. You even drove them away, didn't you?"
"Harry, you are not a weak person—never have been," Eda said gently. "You have experienced real terror, terror that others can't imagine. And that is not weakness."
Eda didn't know why she had spoken so gently to comfort Harry—perhaps it was empathy. Between life and death there is a great terror, and both Eda and Harry had experienced that kind of fear.
"If you need anything, come find me, Harry."
Eda's unprecedented tenderness made the Gryffindor table fall silent for a moment. Fortunately, the twins reacted quickly and eased the awkwardness brought on by the sudden quiet.
"The best way to eliminate fear is to face it," the twins said together, patting Harry on the shoulders. "Come on, brother—just go for it!"
Luckily—thank Merlin for Fred and George stepping in to save the moment—otherwise, the kind, understanding big-sister figure Dumbledore had hoped for over so many years would have vanished from the world from that day on.
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